The youth novel Ich bin Vincent und ich habe keine Angst by Dutch author Enne Koens, German translator Andrea Kluitmann and illustrator Maartje Kuiper is nominated for the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2020. The jury selected this title and the other nominations out of 647 new German children’s books. Prize winners will be announced at the award ceremony during the Frankfurter Buchmesse this fall.
Ik ben Vincent en ik ben niet bang is a beautiful children’s book that gives young readers (10+) convincing insight into the thoughts and emotions of a bullied child. It was written by Enne Koens, illustrated by Maartje Kuiper, and has been translated into German by Andrea Kluitmann for Gerstenberg.
The jury praises the balance between the serious subject and the humorous tone in the novel, and states:
Enne Koens consistently tells the story from Vincent’s perspective, thus giving the reader a vivid and poignant look into the mechanisms of bullying. Maartje Kuiper’s excellent illustrations and the vignettes, all in green and black, have turned the book into an integrated work of art that does the serious subject justice while leaving room for adventure and even humour, thanks to Andrea Kluitman’s finely tuned translation.
Dutch author Enne Koens writes novels for all ages. She made her debut in 2007 with the adult novel Tot alles gezegd is (Until Everything Is Said). In 2011, she wrote the YA novel Vogel (Bird). With her award-winning Sammie en opa (Sammy and Grandpa), she focused on younger readers for the first time. In her psychological novels for children, she combines serious themes with a pleasantly light writing style, appreciated both by critics and by juries of young readers. She also writes plays and songs. Her books have been translated into German, Italian and Turkish.
Andrea Kluitmann is an acclaimed and allround translator Dutch-German. She has won numerous nominations and awards, including the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2007 with Flemish author Do van Ranst for Wir retten Leben, sagt mein Vater [My father says we save lives]. An overview of her previous translations, including an earlier Enne Koens title: Der Tag, an dem ich vom Baum fiel und unser Hotel rettete, may be found in our translations database.
Maartje Kuiper works as an illustrator and designer of (children’s) books such as Poëzie Hardop and Katvis.
Nominations Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2020
About the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The German Children’s Literature Award (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis) intends to encourage the development of children’s and young adult literature, to arouse and maintain public interest and to stimulate discussions in this field of literature. The goal of the award is to strengthen children and young adults in their personal development and to offer guidance to the vast German book market.
The German Children’s Literature Award is awarded by a jury of literature specialists and critics in four categories: Picture Book, Children’s Book, Young Adult Book and Non-Fiction. Each category carries a value of 10,000 Euro.
The prize announcement and award ceremony will take place in October during the Frankfurt Book Fair.
More information on:
- on Dutch author Enne Koens and her books
- translated works by Enne Koens
- Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2020 nominations
- on German translator Andrea Kluitmann
- illustrator Maartje Kuiper
